"I stand behind self-care being a critical part of recovery. Not because a bath (or any other form of self-care) is the answer to your struggles, rather because learning to engage in a respectful and kind way towards yourself is what turns your relationship with yourself from destructive to healthy."

Q: The Holidays have just ended and now my anxiety has gone up. All of a sudden it feels like everyone is talking about going on a diet and how their New Years resolutions are to lose weight and workout a lot. A part of me feels like I need to do the same even though I know that wouldn’t be healthy for me. How should I navigate these next few weeks when everyone is obsessing over weight and exercise?

Not only is this season busier than we often want (even though its portrayed as a time to slow down and sip hot chocolate while walking in the snow), but it’s also really food centered, which can be really overwhelming and triggering. As the December approaches, here are some suggestions that may make the month seem a little easier on your heart and your mind.

Often when someone struggles with disordered eating or an eating disorder, they are blind to the different ways in which they engage with food that may be sabotaging them. In this blog post, you'll read about the 5 D’s of eating. Underneath all of these is usually an individual who has either long neglected their real need, or is more accustomed to being cruel to themselves than kind.

Q: I spend a lot of my time in isolation because of my eating disorder. My goal for myself this year was to try to spend a bit more time with those I love but whenever I get asked I automatically want to say no. How can I challenge myself to spend more time with my friends while still feeling safe?

Q: This change of seasons often feels really overwhelming for me. It’s like as soon as I adjust to my life and my recovery process in one season, the next season is here and recovery feels different and harder all over again. What should my focus be now that we’ve moved into Fall?

Understanding your relationship with money is important; not only because it is one you will have for the rest of your life, but also because it can move you closer towards living a recovered and fulfilling life.

Burnout is what happens when we burn the candle at both ends and the stress from doing so physically, mentally and emotionally exhausts us. It has an impact on our overall wellbeing and makes typical engagements feel arduous and unfulfilling. During the summer months, it is not uncommon for people to overschedule themselves in ways that can leave them feeling depleted and that can make focusing and working on recovery really difficult. Here are some ideas on how to avoid summer burnout.

Q: I love my job and my coworkers are lovely people, but every non-work conversation is fixated on weight loss, dieting, fitness, and the latest health trends. I’m a 47-year-old woman who has worked hard to recover from a lifelong eating disorder, and these conversations are challenging for me to hear. What can I do to show them how toxic their obsession is, without having to tell everyone about my eating disorder?

Q: One of the things that seems so scary about recovery is I feel like I don’t know who I will be when I recover. When I think of that, I get so overwhelmed by all the unknowns that it feels safer to retreat into my eating disorder. How do I deal with that?